For those fortunate enough to have seen ‘The Empire Strikes Back’ when it came out in theaters in the beginning of the 80s, you probably remember the 25 minute short film that played before the epic sequel to ‘Star Wars.’ Whether or not you enjoyed that film or just wanted it to end so you could dive back into the adventures of Luke Skywalker, that film was actually commissioned by George Lucas to play before ‘The Empire Strikes Back,’ and was very well received by critics at the time. In the original short, (which was shot for a relatively small budget in Scotland), ‘Black Angel’ was about a medieval knight who battles the titular Black Angel to rescue a beautiful maiden. You can check it out below, or on YouTube, where it has recently been distributed.

Now, over three decades later, Hollywood has decided to give the director of ‘Black Angel,’ Roger Christian, a chance to bring the story to life once more, this time as a full feature film ( [Un]Fortunately, George Lucas will not be involved this time around). Christian recently was interviewed by The Hollywood Reporter, stating that “It’s my passion project, and has been for 35-36 years. I guess ‘patience is a virtue’ is a true saying.” Furthermore, when asked about the story and tone of the film, Christian had the following to say:

“Think Game of Thrones meets Valhalla Rising, Excalibur meets Lord of the Rings. A powerful tale of ancient Celtic magic and Nordic Paganism, it’ll be gritty, dirty and heroic – everything great fantasy should be…The story follows a knight as he journeys deep into the dark underworld with the daughter of a rival king, to meet the face of evil itself and fight the Black Angel in combat. Full of drama, action and heroism, pure light is pitted against eternal darkness and damnation.”

The new movie will star Rutger Hauer and John Rhys-Davies as High Priest Sirdar and King Aeolus respectively, while Laura Weissbecker has been cast as a warrior princess named Kyna. The film will be produced by Harald Reichebner, Sean O’Kelley, Alex Tate and Andrew Loveday.

What are your thoughts on ‘Black Angel’ getting the feature film treatment? Share your opinions in the comments below!